Grandpa's Words (Coke On The Rocks)

by GeeLyria

Published April 5, 2013

E - Everyone
"You have strong legs, you have passion to climb;
there's no reason why you should fear the heights.
Don't let a qualm prowl to whisper near your mind,
it'll block your vision with its daunting lies. 
 
Desqualify fear from being your ally;
that is similar to slaying your own life. 
Stand on your toes and shun all halts,
there's no time to be a pillar of salt.
 
Don't fall asleep on flummoxing paths,
it might rain on the hill as you climb for your chance. 
Make your eyes become your vigilant knights,
but don't let uncertainty pluck out your spine.
 
Living is the most dangerous thing about life;
you can be a victim or you can survive.
When your friends pout, become a truant.
When you enemies growl, remember your rights. 
 
If you ever need the broken-heart remedy,
drink lemonade with strawberry.
And if you feel like that won't work,
get drunk on coke on the rocks."
 
A day before his pulse stopped,
these were my grandpa's words. 
Comments & reviews · 4
User avatar
Mysticalxx
Review
Mysticalxx wrote a review Review · Aug 6, 2015

Really good poem! I like your style of writing, and you used wonderful figurative language and expressions. :)
Just a few things: ''Desqualify" isn't a word, it's "Disqualify".

Overall, the poem's really nice, except that if you made the last two lines rhyme too, it would be better. Just saying :)


Keep it up!

Mysticalxx

User avatar
Jenthura
Review
Jenthura wrote a review Review · May 9, 2013

*cracks fingers* Let's get to this.

Don't let a qualm prowl to whisper near your mind,

Poetry is all about smooth, fluid movement to me (unless a poem is trying to convey a sense of brokenness or discontinuity) so any line that causes me to pause in the reading should be worked on. Imagine your poem as a bunch of pipes; this one is blocked up.
I thought at first that 'qualm' was an adjective to 'prowl', but after reading a few times I realized that it was a noun and that 'prowl' was the verb.
Long story short, I'm confused as to who is doing what in this sentence. I think removing the 'to' and 'prowl' would fix it: "Don't let a qualm whisper near your mind." But 'prowl' is a powerful word, giving a very distinct image. You might want to graft it in somehow.

it'll block your vision with its daunting lies.

I'm a bit of an old-fashioned person, so lines that aren't capitalized in a poem make me cringe a little. However, I have come to understand that this is a style and that my opinion on it rarely matters. It happens a bunch here, but I won't mentioned it again.
The real point on this line is that the 'its's' breaks the flow for me. Maybe if you changed it to: "Blocking your vision with its daunting lies."

Desqualify fear from being your ally;

Disqualify.

that is similar to slaying your own life.

Colorful, I like that you're straying from the conventional 'taking your own life'.


there's no time to be a pillar of salt.

I understand this Biblical reference, but if you want to delve deeply into it, it's not all about fear. The resounding theme of the story of Lot's wife is about not being able to let go of material possessions (I believe). Which, if you go deeper, is just another kind of fear, so whatever.

Make your eyes become your vigilant knights,

This line is gold. Only one change is all I see fit: "Make your eyes become vigilant knights,". I know it's not the same, but 'your' just feels redundant in that line. Maybe you should read both lines aloud for a while to decide. I'm not even decided on that.

but don't let uncertainty pluck out your spine.

Hmm, the word 'but' implies negating the previous idea, which this line is not doing. Either remove 'but' or replace it with another, more suitable conjunction.

Living is the most dangerous thing about life;

Love this line, keep doing it!

When your friends pout, become a truant.

I'm not sure what this line means. I feel like you chose the word 'truant' for its own merit, rather than for how it fit the other words.

And if you feel like that won't work,
get drunk on coke on the rocks."

This line caught me off guard in a nice way. I'd forgotten the quotation mark at the beginning.

A day before his pulse stopped,
these were my grandpa's words.

I don't know how you feel about it, but what if you switch these two lines around?
These were my grandpa's words
a day before his pulse stopped.

I think it gives it a little more finality.

Overall, the poem was great, but I still didn't understand that. Personally, I believe a perfect poem is one the reader immediately comes away with an idea, or is at least thinking hard. Of course, I couldn't write a half-good poem to save a hamster, so I'm nowhere near criticizing you of not having a perfect poem.
8/10: Would read again.
Jenth

Thanks, Jen!<3 =D

SushiSashimi333 wrote a review Review · Apr 13, 2013

I really liked this, the last part was very touching. Your message was strong. There really isn't anything else to say besides this was amazing. The sayings were also nice, really got the point across with the perfect touch of being figurative. I hope to see more from you!

User avatar
Nargles
Review
Nargles wrote a review Review · Apr 6, 2013

Wow!
I love this poem, it is sweet and inspiring and sad all at the same time.
It has some great imagery and description and flows beautifully.

'Don't fall asleep on flummoxing paths,
it might rain on the hill as you climb for your chance.
Make your eyes become your vigilant knights,
but don't let uncertainty pluck out your spine.'
This is by far my favourite stanza.

I don't really have anything to critique as you did a great job.

Keep writing.

Nargles xxx

Aww. Thanks! %u2665



A person is a fool to become a writer. His only compensation is absolute freedom. He has no master except his own soul, and that, I am sure, is why he does it.
— Roald Dahl